City of Refuge Christian Fellowship

"Building Kingdom people who will strengthen families,

 impact the city and change the world"

The title of this document sums up in a simple sentence the thrust of this vision.  It is a vision of restoration. Restoration of people from bondage. Restoration of a functioning church where each one does his or her part and is flowing in the works that God has prepared for them to do and fulfilling their purpose and destiny.  Restoration of the five-fold ministry, fully recognised and functioning within their areas of anointing, thus releasing that anointing and ministry that prepares God’s people for the works of service that God has prepared for them, so that the body can be built up into maturity.

Restoration is NOT “heavy shepherding”, control, or in any way taking away an individual believer’s responsibility for their own Christian walk.  This does not make for strong Christians, but keeps them in an unnatural state of “Christian infancy”.   Rather, it is encouraging and equipping each believer to rise to their full stature in Christ and go on to maturity and discover their own vision, purpose and destiny.

WHY A VISION?

The necessity for having a vision is very plain both from a scriptural and a natural viewpoint.  Let me quote from Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint….(NIV)

Where there is no vision, the people perish….(KJV)

Where there is no vision, the people live carelessly….(Swedish Translation)

 Israel did not have a vision of seeing themselves in the land of promise and ended up wandering around in the wilderness just getting older and eventually dying.

 From the natural viewpoint, if you aim for nothing that is exactly what you will hit – nothing!.

 It is right to make plans and when we walk according to the Spirit of God, then we find that the plans that we make are the ones that God plants within our hearts.

 Psalms 33:11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

We must first of all have a vision from God, and then seek His plan in order for that vision to come to pass.  When it is all of God, the plan will succeed and the vision will be fulfilled.  Now is the time for visions to come to fulfilment.

Ezekiel 12:22-23 "Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: 'The days go by and every vision comes to nothing'?  Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.' Say to them, 'The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled.

Another important scripture is found in Habakkuk 2:2-3

Then the LORD replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.  For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

Another translation states this:

“…that all who read it may run with it…”

BUILDING KINGDOM PEOPLE

This is the key to our vision and purpose and the other three things will be an outcome of this first, primary important principle.  The following is a quote from Howard Snyder:

“The church gets into trouble whenever it thinks it’s in the church business rather than the kingdom business. In church business people are concerned with church business and religious behaviour.  In the kingdom, people are concerned with kingdom activities – all human behaviour visible and invisible.  Kingdom people see human affairs as saturated with spiritual meaning and kingdom significance. Kingdom people seek first the kingdom of God and its justice.  Church people often put concerns of church work above concerns of justice, mercy and truth. Church people think about how to get people into the church. Kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world.  Church people worry that the world might change the church. Kingdom people work to see that church changes the world. When Christians put the church ahead of the kingdom they settle for the status quo and their own kind of people, but when they catch a vision for the kingdom of God their sight shifts outside the walls of the church to the lost and the needy. They see the life and work of the church from the perspective of the Kingdom. If the church has one great need, it is this – to be set free for the Kingdom of God." -

In order to “build Kingdom people” there is a three-stage process that we are committed to.

1.                  Discern

 Each one of us has a task to do, a work to accomplish that God has pre-ordained that we should walk in. (Ephesians 2:10).  So many people feel that sometimes they are a “square peg in a round hole.”  We are committed to helping you find the correct shaped “hole” or ministry that you should be fitting into.  One of the resources we have is an interactive teaching on the “Motivational Gifts” that will enable you to see the gifting God has placed within you in order for you to accomplish those “good works.” 

 We will do whatever it takes to help you discern your anointing.  We do not want to force you into anything that you are not meant to be doing, but will assist you in every way possible to fulfil your own personal vision and destiny.

 2.                  Develop

The second stage is helping you to develop that gifting and ministry.    We are not called to collect converts, but to make disciples according to Matthew 28:19-20, equipped with the necessary knowledge and tools for them to be effective ministers. 

This involves the five-fold ministry operating effectively within the church: prophets to impart vision and motivation; teachers to establish sound biblical doctrine; pastors to impart the compassion and heart for people; evangelists to enthuse with a desire to see many more come into a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord.  The five-fold ministry is there to equip you for the things that you are called to do.

3.                  Deploy

The third stage is to release people into their ministry.  If anyone has a dream, desire or vision for a particular area of ministry – e.g. counselling, children’s work, community action etc. – then we will do all in our power to help them.

A prime example of this is our Peace Project, which was the vision and dream of one of our members.  We as a church support this ministry and pay for the hiring of facilities where it can take place.  We also paid for the training of a second counsellor.

STRENGTHEN FAMILIES

Having a “Kingdom Mentality” will have tremendous ongoing effects on our lives as we live it out on a daily basis.

The church has been described as a family and therefore the strength of the extended family is dependent on the strength of each individual family that makes up the whole.  Our vision is to see every believer come to maturity through personal growth, thus making strong families.

The cell church is another important way of strengthening families.  The cell church is just part of the larger family, with a smaller number of individual families meeting together.  Not only does this provide a witness into the local community and neighbourhood, but also enables those being trained and equipped  to begin to function in both spiritual and material areas.  It is also the ideal place to introduce new converts or seekers to the Church.

IMPACT THE CITY

The way to impact the City will be as we live our Christian life in front of other people in the workplace, immediate neighbourhood and with friends and family.  We should so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. 

CHANGING THE WORLD

When the disciples of Jesus were commissioned after the resurrection and prior to the day of Pentecost, they were told that they were to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and the uttermost parts of the world.  Our first area has to be our local area and City (Jerusalem), next our country (Judea) and then the rest of the world.  In training and releasing ministries, not everyone will stay in the immediate locale.  Some will be called to go to different towns and cities.  Others will be called to go to different countries.

We have a vision of a hub of a wheel with spokes going out in every direction.  These spokes would not just be one way (out) but two-way (both in and out).  We desire to plant out other fellowships and groups as God directs and release upcoming five-fold ministries to function in their anointing and gifting.  We will also have input into other fellowships as God opens the doors.

We envision the church becoming a ministry centre that will take the form of a Bible and Ministry Training Centre.  We will have the blessing of training and equipping others to further extend the Kingdom who may never be part of this particular expression of the body of Christ.

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To sum it up we are a City of Refuge, an oasis of life in a land that is spiritually dry.  We are a place of escape, restoration, refreshing and re-focusing.  We will not define you by your past, but accept you for who you are and do all in our power to help you to become what God intends you to be, doing what He intends you to be doing.

Copyright © 2007 City of Refuge Christian Fellowship